1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicles, and, more particularly, to a vehicle that operates from gaseous fluid such as air under pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air powered vehicle, having a chassis and wheels, includes an air powered engine mounted on the chassis and having a driving connection with the wheels. A reservoir of gaseous fluid under pressure is connected to an intake system for operating the engine. The air powered engine also includes an exhaust system for expelling still partially compressed exhaust air. Such air powered vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,058 (Manor) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,152 (Manor).
It is known to recompress exhaust air from an air powered engine using a battery operated compressor and return the recompressed air to an air storage tank. A problem is that a conventional 12 volt battery is capable of storing only a very limited amount of power. Although it is possible to recharge the battery using energy from the engine, such recharging involves substantial energy losses and is generally inefficient. Using a great number of batteries to power the compressor is also not practical, as the batteries are expensive and heavy, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of the vehicle.
It is also known to use the relative vertical motion between the chassis and the axle or wheels to recompress the exhaust air using a second type of compressor which is designed to be driven by the vertical motions of the vehicle. A problem is that the additional expense and weight of this second type of air compression system may not be justified, as the energy recoverable from the vertical motions of the vehicle may be very limited, especially on smooth roads.
What is needed in the art is an air powered vehicle in which exhaust air is recompressed using a compression mechanism driven directly by the air powered engine.